Shanghai releases the 2025 "Waste-Free Index," reaching 86.96.

Yan Yuan

Shanghai “Zero-Waste Index”: 86.96

The “zero-waste” philosophy is steadily becoming the distinct backdrop for the city’s high-quality development. Yesterday was the fourth “International Day of Zero Waste.” Shanghai’s 2025 “Zero-Waste Index” released yesterday shows that Shanghai’s “Zero-Waste Index” has been rising year by year since 2023 and has reached 86.96.

Source reduction is the main way for a city to achieve “zero waste,” and to realize source reduction, production and everyday lifestyles need to be changed.

Industrial solid waste emissions are one of the main obstacles to source reduction. On one hand, Shanghai is tightening management of major emitters and strictly controlling the total amount and unit intensity of industrial solid waste generated by six key industry enterprises, including Baosteel Co., Ltd., Shanghai Electric Power Co., Ltd., the Huanneng East China branch, Sheneng Group, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, and Gaotiao Petrochemical; on the other hand, it is further deepening industrial restructuring. By the end of 2025, Shanghai had implemented 2,513 industrial restructuring projects, cumulatively created 196 national-level green factories, 17 national-level green supply chain management enterprises, and 8 national-level green industrial parks. In the three industries of integrated circuits, pharmaceuticals, and chemical engineering, the coverage rate of cleaner production for above-scale key enterprises exceeds 60%.

In terms of everyday pollution sources, sectors such as catering, e-commerce, and construction account for a relatively large share of solid waste emissions. Shanghai has deeply implemented the “Clean Your Plate” campaign. By the end of 2025, it had created 3,276 green restaurants, and it also encouraged catering enterprises to promote the use of bio-based products such as straw film-covered tableware boxes that meet performance and food safety requirements, as well as replacement products such as biodegradable plastic bags, in the takeout delivery sector. In the construction sector, Shanghai has made it clear that each year, the number of prefabricated construction projects piloting intelligent construction technology must exceed 20. By 2025, nine out of ten newly built above-ground buildings in Shanghai are prefabricated buildings.

In recent years, Shanghai has also continued to improve the level of resource recycling and utilization. In 2024, the comprehensive utilization rate of general industrial solid waste increased to 97.9%. To enhance the resource-based utilization level of municipal solid waste, Shanghai has built 15,000 “two-network integration” service points, 198 transfer stations, and 14 collection and distribution sites, and has added 7 projects for resource-based utilization of wet waste. By the end of 2025, Shanghai’s municipal solid waste recycling and reuse rate reached 45.3%, and its resource-based utilization rate reached 86.8%.

(Source: Jiefang Daily, reporter Chen Xi-han)